Lost Heart

This movie has a lot of heart. DJ Perry has written a film about faith Hope and the meaning of forgiveness and redemption and managed to make it fun. I was touched by it. The acting is terrific.

Melissa Anschutz Is the lead here and she is up to the task of carrying the movie. Don Most from happy days is terrific as usual as our DJ Perry, Shane Hagedorn, Christine Marie and Victoria Jackson from Saturday Night Live. Special mention needs to be made of actor Josh Perry.

The young man is terrific here and I would like to see him in more films. I think he brings a lot to the table. He has a grasp on humor and pathos. Just a Wonderful job.

Grab some popcorn and maybe one hanky, and enjoy . Nice job everyone.

Very well executed. Don Most's performance was outstanding. I was also impressed with the character Chip. My wife and I loved it so much we watched it twice. We knew Don from "Happy Days," his singing career, and directing, but this was an Emmy quality performance. A must see.

Thanks to the writers and producers of this film, the public has the opportunity to watch a film that has great acting (especially Melissa Anschutz), great character development (the honesty of the characters are brought to life and you get to know them on a personal basis), and a wholesome movie with real-life situations and a great theme!

This latest faith offering is a perfect example of why, as Pastor Jared C. Wilson argues, Christian/faith movies are so terrible. Lost heart, like so many others, is more a piece of propaganda than art. The "faith message" is all important, relegating the story, characters, and motivation as secondary importance.This movie also suffers from what Wilson calls Christian sentimentalism. The good "faith filled" characters are far too earnest, gifted with inspirational dialogue that is so divorced from real life as to make the whole effort trite and implausible. This, in turn, creates a far too scripted feeling about the whole story. Every message, every platitude, is carefully placed, perfectly timed, giving the whole production a sweet cheesy soft sledgehammer feel.You know from the first scene you are going to be taught an important message of faith that with be served to you without any ambiguity, subtlety, or nuance. Lost Heart has all the earmarks that make it, in Wilson's own words, a terrible movie.

This is a feel-good movie that is uplifting without trying too hard.

Hannah Sweet, whose real name is Hannah Howard, is right at the point of a drunken career meltdown when she hears of her father's death. Reluctantly but having nowhere else to go, she returns to her northern Michigan hometown of Lost Heart to confront her past. As if the situation were not hard enough as it is, she finds that her abusive, alcoholic father had in her absence become a much loved and respected member of the tight knit community.

Melissa Anshutz is so believable as a burned out country singer that one watches the whole movie before realizing she hasn't sung a note in the whole thing. The singing instead is done by her young niece Elsie (beautifully played by Taylor Dupuis, who also co-wrote the heart-tugging country song that voices the theme of the story). Don Most plays a somewhat unconventional minister whose gentle spirit provides a counterbalance to Hannah's unquenchable anger.

It could all descend into maudlin melodrama, but the script by DJ Perry is filled with a gentle, character driven humor, and director Jesse Low keeps the emotional level honest without getting too heavy. One of the real jewels in this production is Josh Perry, an actor with Downs Syndrome whose character is integral to the storyline and is a delight to watch. Another jewel is SNL alum Victoria Jackson in a role far from her comedic persona, who gives a surprisingly touching performance as Hannah's mother.

The small town vibe hasn't been constructed on a back lot. The location is real and fresh and displays the love the filmmakers have for their native state of Michigan. But while the "look" of this movie may be vintage, rustic Hallmark, this is not a formulaic film of contrived plot twists. The surprises that emerge come out of the humanness of the characters honestly played.

Lost Heart is a movie about the soul and there are spiritual and religious themes at work, but in line with CDI's customary approach, these themes are broached in ways that make the viewer think and not cringe. While it never gets preachy, it does carry a note of uplifting faith. Might just have a tiny touch of the supernatural? Depends. Do you believe in UFA's--Unidentified Flying Angels?